History

Ofto means roasted, and the technique is the oldest cooking method on the island: meat set upright around an open fire, salted, and left to cook in its own falling fat. The mountain version, antikristo, stands lamb on stakes facing the flame. Town kitchens in Heraklion adapted it to the wood oven, which does the same job with less smoke and more control. What has not changed is the restraint. Salt, sometimes a little thyme, and time. Merastri holds milk-fed lamb in its oven for two and a half to three hours, which is the standard local benchmark.

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Make it at home

Yield Serves 4Hands-on 15 minTotal 3 hrDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 1.5kg shoulder of milk-fed lamb, on the bone
  • 2 tablespoons coarse sea salt
  • 3 sprigs of thyme
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 600g potatoes, cut into large wedges

Method

  1. Rub the lamb all over with the coarse salt and leave it at room temperature for an hour.
  2. Heat the oven to 220C. Put the lamb on a rack over a deep tray with a little water in the base.
  3. Roast for 20 minutes, then drop the heat to 140C and cook for two and a half hours.
  4. Add the potatoes to the tray for the last hour so they cook in the rendered fat.
  5. Scatter the thyme over the lamb for the final ten minutes, then rest it for fifteen before pulling the meat apart.

Tip from the editors. Do not add liquid to the meat itself. The point is dry heat and rendered fat, not a braise in disguise.

Where to eat arni ofto

Arni ofto in Heraklion

Merastri ★ 4.7

€€ Greek tavernaOld Town

Merastri keeps a serious Cretan wine list behind its wood oven in Heraklion, and the reds it pours are built to stand up to three-hour roast lamb.

OrderA Liatiko red alongside the wood-oven lamb

PourA Liatiko red with the wood-oven lamb

WineCretan list built around the wood oven

FoodFull Cretan menu

TipThe Cretan list is the reason to linger. Ask what is open by the glass before committing to a bottle.

Directions

Arismari & Varsamo ★ 4.2

€€ Greek tavernaOld Town

Arismari & Varsamo cooks lamb over open fire on the seafront side of Heraklion, with bean soup, tzatziki and a menu built on Cretan farm produce.

OrderArni ofto, lamb marinated in herbs and cooked over fire

TipThe terrace faces the sea by the Historical Museum square, which makes it a better sunset table than a midday one.

Directions

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